Herbalists & Healers I trust

Of course this isn't even remotely all the herbalists that I trust, but I'll be building this page over time. If I'm stuck with a personal health issue these are the people I turn to. I am not a clinical herbalist, though I don't mind helping people with issues that I have experience with - such as severe sleep disorders, liver problems, skin problems, headaches, muscle pain and arthritis. If you need a clinical herbalist or qualified healer, these are the people I'd start with.

I had the pleasure of meeting Char when she attended a weed walk on our farm. We hit it off right away. I quickly scheduled a healing session with her. She was generous with her time and mindful in her powerful work. I learned through her stories of all the people she has helped with her years of study and practice. My eyes watered with tears as they always do when I'm being worked on by someone who is truly creating change in my body. She is working on her website now and here is her bio:

"I started out in the western tradition of exploring medicine, but my heart did not connect to the "symptom medicine drug cycle." I also had a dramatic childhood health issue and another in college where allopathic medicine did not work for me. When I look back at those difficult moments now, I consider those incidences a great blessing in my life. I left school and moved to Alaska to join my high school sweetheart and now husband of 31 years. I continued to study mind and body at the University, but I also began exploring my own spirituality by reading many of the world's spiritual texts and learning their spiritual disciplines. Our daughters' health issues at birth reawakened my interest in medicine, but with the twist now of having a picture of "healing" using herbs, nutrition and dealing with attitudes and fears. By two years old, our daughter's asthma attacks ended. However, my learning had really just begun. I was rear ended by another car and I spent about 6 months in chiropractic care. The injuries did not resolve, and I turned to tai chi for healing. I began studying herbs, energy meridians and tai chi with a traditional chinese healer where I was able to heal my neck and low back issues and fully embrace my own journey helping other people. During this time Jim also began his studies in Tai Chi, Qi Gong healing, aupressure points and Shao Lin.

Around the same time, our daughter's dyslexia became obvious. I met a healer who used a healing method called Neural Organization. I was so pleased by the results that my daughter and others experienced, that I later drove from Alaska to Missouri to learn It myself. Dr. Carl Ferrari was a chiropractor and acupuncturist who identified the way "fight or flight" responses affect our thoughts, emotions and body movements. He created Neural organization to use the mind/body relationship more efficiently. It helps people who have been through traumatic injury, it is very helpful for add/adhd, dyslexia and a host of other mind/body issues. I took what he taught me and added the spiritual learning and thoughts that allow for us to have a truly productive, building life.

Throughout this time, I home schooled our daughter K-12 as well as other children we have loved along the way. I had always had a picture that learning could be taught in a way that builds self-discipline, creativity, will — and that rather than stuffing our children with useless information and cultural bias -- it would be more helpful to teach them how to learn and encourage them to seek the truth in all things. In this way children would be free to mature into their own inner authority and connect to their spirit in a way that they could know and live their own ideals. My experience proved that it also aids children in excelling in learning language arts, mathematics, history, music, the arts, etc.

My final gift from Alaska came when I met a woman who created relationships with small artisan distillers of essential oils around the world and I began buying essential oils from her. I used them for healing and as substitutes for harsh chemicals in our home. After 26 years of adventures in Alaska, we chose to move to Missouri and join very loving like-minded friends. We spent the past several years building our home, our daughter graduated high school, and we began the process of cultivating our land. As in Alaska, I continued to meet people who were ready to heal themselves with some guidance.

I have taken all that I have learned from each of my mentors and added my own experiences and understandings to help people with chronic health issues and attitudes. Most recently, I received a massage therapy license and use energy meridians, chakras, massage techniques and tai chi to help others recover from muscle injuries and trauma.

I am constantly amazed by these therapeutic oils and the plants on the lands around us. They are a constant reminder to me that all that is real and true is in nature – for nature contains the seeds of wholeness, health and many clues to understanding our own divine nature if we but choose to listen and use what we learn.

“ I want to leave the bounds of the indoors and take you out to smell wild minerals of the wet dirt, to fill your mouth with the spice of tree resin, to drum your heart into a rhythm that allows YOU to hear, feel, see, sense, experience the magic and sacredness of the natural world. I want to show you how to see with more than your eyes, see with your body, your heart, your sensual nature. I want to feed the senses and bodies of my clients with the holiness of the plant medicine- not just the extracts and constituents that help them feel better, but with the place where the earth wisdom, plant manifestation touches the spark of life within each heart and body.” - From Truth Telling, by Darcey Blue

I am a shamanic herbalist and wild crafter of plant medicines, I am a Lover to the Earth and wild earth mama. I am a devotee of all that is sacred on this wild beautiful earth. I am here to dive deeply into the wild world, into the heart, and to show the way for others to follow – to experience, to sense, to taste, to feel the magic of the plants, to know deeply in their heart the sacred calling of the wild earth. The wisdom of spirit within each of us.

I work privately with those who are eager to learn from the plants a healing way as old as time itself, and who are ready to take responsibility for and transform their relationship to self, spirit, nature, health, and body.

I was trained as a Clinical Herbalist & Nutritionist at the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism under Paul Bergner, and studied under Rosemary Gladstar and Charlie Kane. I was called to the shamanic path by an old Juniper tree in 2003 and have been talking with plants ever since.

I am a community herbalist living in Iowa City, Iowa. As with many herbalists, I started studying independently, begging my local bookstore owner to order in herbals for me.

It was my wonderful midwife , who suggested the Rosemary Gladstar course to me because at that point, in Iowa, correspondence courses were pretty much what were available to those of us on the Green Path. It was an amazing entry into the world of herbalism. I proudly wear the crescent moon that signifies Rosemary’s contribution to my education.

Since the technology boom, I have had the good fortune toable to participate inonline intensives with wonderful herbalists including; Darcey French Blue, Sean Donahue, Kiva Rose and K.P. Khalsa and others. It has resulted in the formation of many beautiful friendships. Ihave been so blessed to participate in classes and workshops with Matthew Wood, Margi Flint, Paul Bergner, 7Song, Jim McDonald, Todd Caldecott, CoreyPine Shane and many others.

At some point in all of this herbal studying I realized that it was important to me as a clinician, to have a solid background in science. So I went back to school, obtaininga degree in Biology and Nutrition from our local community college. I studied Plant Biology, Human Biology, A & P, Nutrition, Chemistry along with Conservation BiologyEnvironmental Science and Cultural Anthropology.

The next step for me was for me to bring this all together in a comprehensive whole. I transferred to Goddard College’s Health Arts & Sciences program in the Spring of 2013. Iam just finishing up my junior year.

Luna Herb Co. started back in 2002 and has grown over the past 8 years to include a full herbal product line, monthly study group and occasional teaching classes. We are located at Luna Farm in Troy, Illinois.

Kristine Brown is a practicing community herbalist and homeschooling mother of 4 children and 2 step-children. She has apprenticed with Rosemary Gladstar of Sage Mountain and has spent countless hours of research and study through her own pursuit with great herbalists such as Charles Garcia, Kiva Rose, jim mcdonald, Susun Weed, Gail Faith Edwards, Matthew Wood and more.

She writes the popular monthly children’s herbal PDF publication Herbal Roots Zine, offers an herbal product line through her website and localharvest.org, does consultations, teaches medicine making classes and runs a monthly herbal study group, focusing mainly on locally found herbs, enabling the community to take control of growing and wild crafting their own medicine.

Katja Swift is a clinical herbalist practicing in the Boston area. She prefers to work one on one in her office. Together with Ryn Midura, Katja founded the CommonWealth Center for Herbal Medicine, and is the director of the educational program.

She works with adults, children, and families to find optimal health: whether you are suffering from chronic illness or just the sniffles, whether you're feeling that something just "isn't right", or recovering from an intervention-based treatment such as a course of antibiotics or chemotherapy.

By teaching people how to eat real food and use plants as medicine, she helps them to reestablish their connections to the earth, to themselves, and to one another. Katja believes that with education and support, people can make their own good choices about how to live healthier.

If you're struggling with chronic illness, weight issues, or depression; if you seek alternatives to Ritalin; if you have daily pain but you have learned to consider it "normal"; if your health isn't all you want it to be . . .

Katja is available for consultation and ongoing care. Appointment times are flexible to fit into your schedule. 617.750.5274 · katja@katjaswift.com

Herb companies In Canada (they also ship to the EU, as do some of the US companies but they have an easier time of it): Herbies-Herbs.com; and monteagleherbs.com. (Jef Victor Juel Martinussen, via facebook, may be useful for herbs in the EU, try him.) (NOTE: He posted on my timeline about a more direct route to contact him but I am having no success searching the timeline for the information.

Evelyn - Powerline Health, Springfield, MO. 298-3629

Naturopathic Dr. Tiffanie Jones, St. Louis MO 314-852-9803

Dr Jody Noe is brilliant and specializes in cancer care 860-495-5688

Promoting the use of local, abundant plants for food, health and beauty.

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